ISU Women Defeat Three Top-10 Teams at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 28 ranked Iowa State women’s cross country team was impressive on the national stage with a fifth place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational this afternoon. Crystal Nelson led the way with a tenth place finish in 20:02, her second-consecutive top-10 finish.

Iowa State found trouble early, placing 11th after the first mile but used a strong second half to leap six spots in the final results.

The Cyclone effort included victories over 12 nationally ranked teams and was highlighted by wins over No. 4 Washington, No. 7 New Mexico and No. 10 San Francisco. The line-up featured 17 nationally ranked opponents and nine more who received votes in the latest coaches’ poll.

Iowa State women’s cross country head coach Andrea Grove-McDonough was very happy with how the Cyclones ran for the name on the front of the uniforms.

“I’m really starting to see the girls come together and run as a team,” Grove-McDonough said. “I really felt they ran for Iowa State today and that they were no longer running for themselves or for individual places. They really ran for Iowa State and that was great to see as a coach.”

Freshmen Perez Rotich (20:22) and Bethanie Brown (20:25) helped to provide an anchor for the Cyclones, placing 28th and 32nd in the race. Junior Katy Moen (20:41) was also impressive as Iowa State’s fourth finisher. Ejiro Okoro rounded out the scoring effort in 21:11.

Grove-McDonough was very impressed with the squad’s ability to execute and maintain composure when faced with adversity.

“I thought the team had phenomenal composure throughout the race,” Grove-McDonough said. “They executed the game plan perfectly. [Okoro] had probably the most phenomenal stretch run that I’ve ever seen. She was a huge difference make for us over the last 400-meters. She passed at least 20 people over the home stretch. Only five points separated us from New Mexico and that’s the kind of heart we need to see at the end of a race.”

The Cyclones were one of four teams in the meet to have a top-10 individual finisher and place four runners among the top-60 competitors.

No. 3 Arizona captured the team title with 117 points, while Dartmouth's Abbey D’Agostino ran to the individual crown, setting a new course record in 19:31.